Coal-bin



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1,

A. G. HAMBURGER.

GOAL BIN.

No; 587,959. Patented Aug. 10,1897.

(N0 Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. G. HAMBURGER. GOAL BIN;

No. 587,959. Patented Aug. 10,1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANTHONY G. HAMBURGER, OF'BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

COAL-BIN.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 587,959, dated August 10, 1897.

Application filed January 15, 1897. Serial No. 619,346. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANTHONY G. HAMBUR- GER, of the city of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented certain Improvements in Coal-Bins, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to prevent errors in the delivery of coal to consumers; and it consists in a coal-bin of a peculiar construction whereby the weight of the coal contained therein may be readily and easily computed by sight at any time, as will hereinafter fully appear.

In the description of the said invention which follows reference is made to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a coal-bin constructed in accordance with myinvention as seen from the inside of the cellar when looking toward the front wall of the house. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are respectively a front, a side, and a cross-sectional View, taken on the dotted lines .2 z, of a plate employed in the construction of the bin, all the views being enlarged.

Referring now to the drawings, A is the front wall of the cellar, containing the coaldelivery opening B.

C is the improved coal-bin, formed of the front a and the sides I). These are preferably made of ordinary boards secured together at the corners and to the wall A by means of scantlings o. In addition to the scantlings c the frame of the bin embodies the upper and lower string-pieces, respectively denoted by (Z and c, which serve to strengthen the top and bottom of the bin and support certain plates hereinafter described.

The coal is taken from the bin through an opening at, having a sliding door y.

The bin has a known capacity that is to say, the weight of coal contained in it may be computed at any time by noting the height of the coal therein, and to enable a person to ascertain the weight the bin is provided with one or more strips D, on which are marked lines to represent tons and fractions of tons. The ton-marks are numbered, the numbers beginning at the bottom of the bin, so that by noticing the mark in alinement with the top of the body of coal in the bin the weight of the coal is found. In marking these strips it is only necessary to know the content in cubic feet of the bin at different heightsas, for instance, if the floor measurement of the bin is eight feet by five feet and a ton of coal contains forty cubic feet it is evident that the ton-marks will be one foot apart, or that when the coal in the bin is one foot high its weight will be one ton; but it is evident that to accurately measure the body of coal by means of the marked strips D, one of which is generally situated at each end of the bin, the surface of the coal must be not only straight, but level, and as it is in most cases a difficult or impossible matter for a person to get into the bin, owing to the close proximity of its upper edge to the joists of the floor above, for the purpose ofleveling the surface of the coal it is necessary to provide the bin with means for leveling the coal from the outside, and that such means should allow of the leveling operation when the surface of the coal is at any height in the bin. To accomplish this, I employ one or more rakes E, the handles f of which pass through slots 9 in the front a of the bin and they eX- tend practically from the top to the bottom of the same.

The slotting of thefront to necessarily separates the front boards into short pieces, and in order that these pieces may be firmly secured in place and not allowed to bulge and at the same time protect the edges of the boards around the slots, so that they will not be broken in the operation of the rakes, the handles of which are of iron, I connect the upper and lower string-pieces d and e by castiron plates F with flanges h, adapted to be fastened by nails or screws to the said stringpieces. The plates are slotted, the slots being designated by 2, to provide for the operation of the rakes, and also with rabbets j at their edges in which the ends of the boards rest. By this construction the slotting of the front of the bin is not attended with any weakness, but is rather strengthened. The slots also provide openings through which the coal may be viewed to guide the person leveling it.

The operation of the invention is as follows: After the coal is deposited in the bin the rakes are brought into play and the surface of the coal leveled by them from the cellar floor or from an elevated platform. Then this is completed, the weight of the coal can be readily ascertained by noting the mark on the strips D which is opposite or in' alinement with the surface of the coal.

The use of this invention will prevent contentions between coal-dealers and their customers as to the Weight of coal delivered by the former to the latter, and also enables the consumerto note the consumption of coal by him during any period of time, the only preliminary operation being the leveling of the coal in the bin.

I claim as my invention- 15 In a coal-bin for the purpose described, the front thereof constructed of rabbeted slotted plates secured at top, and bottom to the frame of the bin, and boards with their ends seated in the said rabbets, substantially as specified. 2o

ANTHONY G. HAMBURGER. \Vitnesses:

DANL. FISHER, WM. T. HOWARD. 

